FIA arrests suspect in fake receipts scam

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested a man allegedly involved in fake receipts scam, in which several Pakistani politicians received fake bank receipts with transactions worth billions of rupees.

According to the FIA Karachi Director Asim Qaimkhani, suspect Ateeq-ur-Rahman is a former employee at the bank. He was fired from his job at the bank, after which he decided to take revenge from his company.

Ateeq had been arrested previously, too, and had just come out of prison. The bank had fired him from his job after his first arrest, FIA authorities said.

Major parliamentarians—including Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, opposition leaders of both the Houses of Parliament Syed Khursheed Shah and Aitzaz Ahsan—and parliamentary leaders, including JUI-F head Maulana Fazlur Rehman, received fake bank receipts worth millions of rupees during the past week.

NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq wrote a letter to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor stating that the matter should immediately be investigated and he should be updated promptly on it.

The NA speaker’s office was informed by the bank that the transaction was bogus, while the office also directed the SBP governor to present a report on it.

The FIA investigators in Karachi seized relevant records of the SME bank linked to the bizarre series of events. The investigation agency also probed the bank’s senior management.

Following the unusual scenario with the Senate opposition leader, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani also received a receipt from an SME bank at his home in Karachi. The Senate chairman said that the receipt stated he had deposited Rs100 million in the bank.

Mian Raza Rabbani ordered an inquiry into the matter, calling the receipt fake. “This receipt is fraud, I don’t have an account in that bank,” he said. The Senate chairman added that he had written a letter to the FIA and the board of the SME Bank.